1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the home confinement field and, in particular, to a system and method capable of using impulse radio technology to track and monitor people under house arrest.
2. Description of Related Art
The number of people incarcerated in prison has increased dramatically in the past few years, resulting in overcrowded prisons that are difficult and costly to operate and maintain. This troublesome situation has led many local and state governments to alternative forms of sentencing and detention including house arrest wherein a person is confined in their house or apartment instead of being confined in a prison.
In general, a person under house arrest is required to wear an electronic monitor. The electronic monitor often includes a radio transmitter, which transmits radio signals to a radio receiver connected to a telephone at the person""s home. The telephone can be programmed to call a central station manned by monitoring personnel whenever the radio receiver fails to receive the radio signal from the electronic monitor. However, problems have arisen in the past with this scenario because with standard radio transmissions there are often problematical xe2x80x9cdead zonesxe2x80x9d within a home that may trigger a false alarm.
The xe2x80x9cdead zonesxe2x80x9d can be attributable to the closed structure of the home, which can make it difficult for a standard radio transmitter to maintain contact with a standard radio receiver as the person carrying the standard radio transmitter moves through the home. For instance, the central station may receive a false alarm that the electronic monitor (including a standard radio transmitter) secured to the person under house arrest is no longer communicating to the standard radio receiver even though the person is still in the home. In particular, the false alarm may be triggered because the standard radio signals sent from the standard radio transmitter cannot penetrate a certain wall or floor within the home and reach the standard radio receiver.
In addition, the xe2x80x9cdead zonesxe2x80x9d may be attributable to multipath interference which can be very problematic in a closed structure such as a home. Multipath interference is an error caused by the interference of a standard radio signal that has reached a standard radio receiver by two or more paths. Essentially, the standard radio receiver may not be able to demodulate the standard radio signal because the transmitted radio signal effectively cancels itself out by bouncing of walls and floors before reaching the standard radio receiver. Accordingly, there has been a persistent need to develop a system, electronic monitor and method that can effectively track and monitor people that are confined to their homes.
The present invention includes a system, electronic monitor and method that utilize the capabilities of impulse radio technology to overcome the shortcomings of conventional house arrest monitoring systems. One embodiment of the present invention enables monitoring personnel (e.g., police officers, parole officers) to determine whether a person under house arrest and carrying an electronic monitor stays within their home. Another embodiment of the present invention enables monitoring personnel to determine whether a person under house arrest and carrying an electronic monitor is located within their home and/or also enables monitoring personnel to monitor the vital signs of that person.